Bilingual charter school to open

School Board members agreed Tuesday that a bilingual charter school could open in the fall despite concerns by some that it was a taxpayer-funded Jewish day school.

The Ben Gamla Charter School plans to teach Hebrew as a second language and other subjects to about 600 kindergarten through eighth-grade students. Students will learn in both English and Hebrew.

But the school's Web site and an article in a Jewish newspaper caused some to question whether students would receive a religious as well as bilingual education at the Hallandale Beach school, which is leasing space from a Jewish community center.

In Friday's Florida Jewish News, Rabbi Adam Siegel, the school's principal, says the school will be "friendly toward religion." And until Monday, Ben Gamla's Web site said it would "provide special classes in Jewish history and culture."

"Where is the separation of church and state?" Rachel Turry asked in an e-mail to the district. "Is this not establishing a religion within the boundaries of a public school?"

Charter schools are educational hybrids, privately run public schools. These taxpayer-funded campuses have more freedom over curriculum than a traditional public school but must adhere to state academic standards and laws.

North Central Area Superintendent Harry La Cava said it was wrong to assume that the school would teach Judaism because it was teaching Hebrew. But School Board member Stephanie Kraft said she understood how some might think that. She called the school's application, which discusses a bicultural learning environment, a "little misleading."

Siegel said Tuesday that language must be taught in a cultural context but stressed that Ben Gamla will not teach religion.